North American Sheep Dog Trials

The annual North American Sheep Dog Trials will be held at the James Kjerstad Event Center on Thursday, February 6. The North American Sheep Dog Trials is a timed event competition where communication with a companion is of the utmost importance.

The event requires a handler and man's best friend, a working sheep dog, to herd a group of sheep into a pen. The handler can only give communication to the dog to accomplish this task in the fastest amount of time. A total of $5,000 worth of prize money is available to the top performers.

The sheep dog trials also offers youth ages 3 to 6 years of age a chance to participate in the Mutton Bustin'. The event is limited to 20 riders and to ensure the safety of the animals, children need to weigh less than 60 lbs.

Pre-Registration is required for both the sheep dog trials and the mutton bustin'. Applications for the Sheep Dog Trial and Mutton Bustin' will be available in mid December.

The prelims will begin at 11 am with the finals taking place at 7:30 pm at the James Kjerstad Event Center on the Central States Fairgrounds.

*please note: all mutton bustin' forms require a signed and notarized liability release form" (pdf available for print)